Baumkuchen (German Tree Cake): A Labor of Love

by Karen on Wednesday, January 4, 2012

As a food blogger, I'm constantly bombarded by food recipes and photos at an attention-deficit inducing rate. This has resulted in probably the largest, most disorderly bookmark folder known to man, and most of which I'll probably never get to given the limitations of the human stomach. So, when I make it a priority to cook something I've seen floating around on the world wide web, it is special. I first saw this cake on fellow globetrotter Sasha's blog, Global Table Adventure.

This gorgeous German cake consists of many separately baked layers, when cut resembles the rings of an old tree. Traditionally, the cake is made on a spit with each new layer added (or batter painted on) when the previous layer is cooked by the heat surrounding the spit. A typical baumkuchen will have up to 15 to 20 layers so it takes quite some time and patience to construct this cake (this is not for the amateur or impatient baker– there, that's my disclaimer). Because most households don't come equipped with a baumkuchen spit, a home version of the German tree cake has been developed called the, schichttorte. This uses a typical oven broiler to cook each layer in the typical cake form. Although you loose the appearance of tree rings, you'll still have the beautiful cross section layers in each slice.

I will again warn you this requires an incredible amount of patience because each 2 millimeter layer needs to be browned before the next layer of batter is spread on. However, I found it to be the perfect winter weekend project– there was something meditative about the repeated action of brushing the batter and jam. My suggestion is to just turn off the heater, crank up the broiler and put on your favorite album. Okay maybe more like 2 albums.

Despite all the work, this cake is very much worth the effort. It's beautiful, delicate, and most importantly tastes incredible. Here's Sasha's family recipe and I hope these photos inspire you to make your own!

a cake like this is exactly what is needed on a cold winter’s weekend day. the repetitive nature of the layers, and then frosting it, makes for a satisfying project and the grand finale of actually tucking into it next to a fire? sublime.

Love this post! It’s great to see you take the time to make something like this, and you’ve done a beautiful job of it. I do find comfort in recipes that require this kind of effort, it’s a pleasure if you give yourself plenty of time to get lost in the task. You’ve inspired me!

I’d never heard of these before I moved to Japan, where for some reason (aside from deliciousness) they’re hugely popular and can be found in the usual cute cellophane in every convenience store. Cue a couple of extra kilos on the hips…

Amazing cake… although the idea of painting on the layers is something one could imagine only the Germans could come up with!!! You did an unbelievable job. It reminds me of one of the cakes my German gram used to make that I loved… blitztorte… layers and custard and meringue… sinfully good. Who says Germans can’t cook!

There is a similar-looking layer cake in South East Asia countries like Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. It is called Kueh Lapis. There’s ground cinnamon, cloves, star anise and cardamom in the batter so the cake bakes up like a gingerbread cake.

I absolutely love your blog!!! What an awesome friendship/partnership of exploring the world of FOOD together. And your recipes and photos all look PERFECT. This cake looks especially laborious.. thanks for sharing it with us!

Beautiful pictures. One of these thin layer cakes has been on my baking wish list for a while, just haven’t had the time yet. Maybe someday 🙂 I’ll add this one to my very long and disorganized bookmarks list too.

OMG, I’m soo excited you have posted a recipe for this cake. I am obsessed with the baumkuchen and the only place I could find them was when I travelled to Japan as they are too obsessed with them there. My obsession with them is so embarassing that I would have to formulate reasons to separate from my husband while we were in Japan so I could secretly and piggishly indulge in them more than I would have liked to admit. Thank god for all the walking as I would have ended up as round as a baumkuchen. Anyway, no more sneaking around, I can make these at home. WOOP!
By the way love your blog and your photos, gorgeous!

Just stumbled on your site via someone else’s recommendation. I love the concept of your blog and this cake looks so beautiful and tempting. It’s quite similar to the Indian Bebinca cake in construction (which I adore with a vengeance!) so I will definitely give this a bash. Need to get rid of the kids first! A quiet morning at school ,would be the perfect time! Thanks for sharing 😉

As a german, I have to add that the origins and the perfection of this Tree-Cake lies in Poland. I can’t remember exactly the name but it was a small village and when producing the cake, they roll it on a skewer to make very thin layers.